[♪ whimsical music plays]
[Tig Strassburg] Damn.
Sprung the snare.
[Tig Strassburg] MISSED 'EM.
WHATEVER IT WAS.
[Tig Strassburg] Something coming in this way.
I set these snares for wolf,
for some reason this year
I'm noticing a lot more wolf tracks
a lot closer into town.
We've already found two dead moose
within 10 miles of town.
Cows and calves that's our next generation's food.
Wolves they're pretty much talking food
right out of our mouths.
An active wolf pack it's a key part of our ecosystem but
such a large pack killing so many moose close to town,
it's upon guys like me to keep these animals in check.
[♪ theme music plays]
[Tig Strassburg] Well, the wolf pack came through,
they came back down the river but kinda true to my luck
everywhere I've gone and set anything
they've stayed away from that area.
They're not coming into anything I'm setting.
Just continue trying, I guess.
I'm out here looking for wolves but at the same time
I'm also looking for a bull.
Moose seasons open it's still a good opportunity for me
to get some meat for the rest of the year.
[Tig Strassburg] IT KIND OF LOOKS LIKE
A BULL MOOSE OUT THERE
[Tig Strassburg] How its toes are split apart.
There's definitely a cow and a calf in here but
I think there's a third one, a bull also maybe.
With the wolf pack moving up and down the river
they're scaring off a lot of moose,
they're not in the areas where we can easily access them.
They just get into really tight,
hard to get to areas.
Lot of tracks, think positive.
Well, I've been out here all day I'm not having any luck,
no wolves, no moose.
I don't wanna go empty handed but
I'm starting to lose day light so
it's about time I start heading home.
Hey some ptarmigan.
[gun clicks]
[gunshots]
[Tig Strassburg] GOT ONE!
[Tig Strassburg] Not much but it's something.
The kids like to eat this one.
[Tig Strassburg] HAPPY LITTLE BLESSING.
[Tig Strassburg] Wouldn't mind if I got one more.
I am...
[Tig Strassburg] KULE [IN CENTRAL DENAAKK'E LANGUAGE]
POOR
[Tig Strassburg] ...Hunter. Poor hunter. Kule is poor.
[laughs]
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Is this just a regular church service?
[Marcella Amodo-White] Yeah.
Make sure the dogs don't come in.
[Marcella Amodo-White] THIS IS THE PROTECTION OF THE THEOTOKOS.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Which is a Russian Orthodox church.
And this church was built in 1926, I believe.
We've always been told that we have
a strong spiritual bond here.
Our church is the heart of this community.
Every outsider that has visited our village the church
just tends to always intrigue them.
It literally calls them in.
It's very important that our church still remains open,
even if it's just a single person that comes up to church.
A single person can pray for the entire community.
So, we don't attend just for ourselves.
Keeping a spiritual life is just as important as
keeping our subsistence way of life.
[Marcella Amodo-White] THE MORNING MINUS TIDES ARE HERE.
[Marcella Amodo-White] We wait all winter long for this
time to get here.
Me and my girls are gonna get the church prepped and
ready then go out and hit up the minus tides
see what kind of goodies we can find.
We're hoping for octopus.
We should be back in time for--
[Marcella Amodo-White] OUR CHURCH SERVICE.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Uncle Marvin is waiting for us.
We don't want to keep him waiting.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Okay.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Good morning uncle.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Hello uncle Marvin.
[Marvin Agnot] Good morning, what a beautiful day for us to
go on this adventure.
Are you guys happy?
We gotta go an hour before the tide change.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Awesome, sounds good.
[Marvin Agnot] I'll push this out.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Hopefully we get lucky,
'cause if we get an octopus my mom said she's going to
teach me how to cook one up.
And I'm super excited to learn.
[Marvin Agnot] I'm very happy to be able to show Jaz and Julz
my ability and my knowledge of the subsistence way of living.
When I see the appreciation and being a part of their growth,
man that's priceless.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Hope we get lucky.
I like to eat my octopus pickled that's
my favorite way to eat octopus.
[Marcella Amodo-White] You could cook it and eat it that way,
some people can it and we also use it for halibut bait.
Don't ever want anything to go to waste.
[Marvin Agnot] I'm just gonna park our skiff here so
it'll stay off the beach.
You guys got the, you got your hose?
-Yes. -Yeah.
-Hope we score. -Haha, yeah.
[Marvin Agnot] You see the clam shells right there,
is that a good sign?
-Yeah. -See that?
[Marvin Agnot] Well, here's our rock.
I thought when we were back there,
I'd seen these clams that look like a hole but.
[Marcella Amodo-White] There's usually, usually is a big burrow right there.
[Marvin Agnot] I thought there was.
Yeah, let me take a gander.
Let me see this hose here.
Octopus like to live under rocks.
How we get the octopus out from under the rock is we stick
the hose in there and blow air in the hole and stir up
and they'll come crawling out.
[splashing]
I hear water.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Don't feel anything squishy?
[Marvin Agnot] WELL HE'S NOT HOME.
[Marvin Agnot] Okay, well we'll just walk down there
and check out the others.
-Sounds good. -Okay, yeah.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Still got some time.
[Marvin Agnot] We'll get one.
[Joel Jacko] So, I got a stash of logs across the lake.
When I cut these logs, I threw them on the ice and
everything's melting now.
So, I kinda need to get them off the ice before
they fall through the ice, and I can't like, retrieve them.
I got a couple projects I gotta finish in the house,
I can't do that without, uh, lumber.
Well, these logs are basically for siding
and then my interior walls.
There's no longer trees near the house so that's why
I'm going miles away now to find these trees just for milling.
These are a bunch of the logs I cut about a week ago
before it snowed.
I don't actually remember how many logs I got
but it looks like seven or eight.
But I gotta try to tow them back with the sled and
the snow machine's not really big enough to be,
you know, towing logs around.
So, I'll go ahead and give it a shot see how it goes.
[grunting]
Oh man.
[grunts]
Heavier than I remember.
Oh!
[grunting]
Oh man!
I don't know this is pretty freaking heavy.
[grunts]
Might be too much for the little Tundra.
I'm not, I'm not liking this so far.
I mean it's gotta be 300 pounds.
Here goes nothing.
We got 20 feet, three miles to go.
[engine revving]
I don't think this is going to work.
[Joel Jacko] This isn't even the steepest hill I have to go up.
I have to figure out something else to do, I think.
I'm like halfway home.
[grunts]
If I was using a four wheel this wouldn't be a problem.
There wasn't snow a week ago.
[grunts]
I should've probably tried to get them out then.
[grunts]
I'm just gonna build my house out of hay.
[grunting]
[sighs]
All right.
I can get the sled out,
turn it around, I don't know if this is worth it.
I've got like eight more logs out there.
[panting]
I definitely don't wanna do this again.
All right.
I'm done hauling logs, I'll just go get the mill and I'll take it
down to where the logs are, I'll just mill them in place.
And I can haul just the boards,
you know, the usable lumber so think we'll go to plan B.
[Marvin Agnot] There is a hole here I could,
that's a good hole there.
[Marcella Amodo-White] So, when he let, lets the hose go
if there's a octopus is in there, he could.
When the legs are moving around, it'll,
you'll see movement on the hose.
[Marvin Agnot] No disturbance.
[Marcella Amodo-White] No fluctuation in the water.
[Marvin Agnot] No, there's no disturbance
I think he is not home.
Well.
There's a couple there we could walk down.
There was no octopus on these first couple rocks that
I checked but, um, we'll just keep looking along the beach and
hope we get an octopus.
-A bidarkies mom! -You found one?
[Jazmine Amodo-White] There's a big bidarkies.
[Marvin Agnot] Oh, big bidarkies.
Oh, those are really good to gnaw on.
[Marcella Amodo-White] I got my knife.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Oh, can I get it?
[Marvin Agnot] There you go, you spotted it.
Bidarkies are a part of our way of subsisting.
[Marvin Agnot] THE CHITONS ON THE BEACH STUCK TO THE ROCK.
[Marvin Agnot] Very tasty.
Yeah, here you go fresh, fresh.
[Marcella Amodo-White] May not have found octopus yet
but were getting bidarkies.
We're scoring regardless.
Gathering food from the land as a family is very important.
Very meaningful.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] I like to eat them raw.
[Marvin Agnot] Yeah, that's the, right off the beach.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Fresh right off the beach.
[Marvin Agnot] It's an acquired taste but we love it.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] I call the tongue.
[Juliana Amodo-White] I want the tongue.
[Marvin Agnot] You want the tongue?
[laughter]
[Marvin Agnot] I'm so happy to see that our family tradition
it still goes on and how they still enjoy these because
of how we practice our ways of living off the beach.
Tasty?
[Jazmine Amodo-White] This is really good, I like it.
[Marvin Agnot] We're gonna walk right over the top of this, uh,
bar right here, there's a couple rocks right on
the other side here I say we go check.
Nothing under that one?
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Hmm no.
[Marcella Amodo-White] The roles of women, they've changed some.
When I was growing up my chores were more so home-based.
But nowadays there seems to be a lot more female interest
in wanting to get out and explore and
learn how to do other stuff.
[Juliana Amodo-White] I think I found a hole over here.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] THAT LOOKS LIKE A HOLE, ACTUALLY.
[Juliana Amodo-White] Mommy, is this a hole?
[Marcella Amodo-White] Come and look.
[Marcella Amodo-White] DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO FEEL FOR?
YOU'RE USUALLY ABLE TO FEEL,
[Marcella Amodo-White] Something squishy then you feel
something just sticking to the hose.
Then you know that there's something's in there.
[Marcella Amodo-White] IT'S NOT GOING IN VERY FAR THOUGH.
[Marcella Amodo-White] There probably was something in
there at some point.
[Marvin Agnot] Well, nice try.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Being able to go out with
my daughters, I hope that instills an empowerment in them,
you know, don't be afraid of failing.
Letting them know that girls could go out and do anything.
[Marvin Agnot] LET'S GO BACK TO THE SKIFF AND GO CHECK OUT
A COUPLE OF OTHER ROCKS BEFORE THE TIDE CHANGE ON US.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Okay.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Maybe we'll have better luck over there.
[Marvin Agnot] I hope so, tides still low enough.
[Tig Strassburg] Nice night, might as well take a ride.
[Louise Moses] Yeah.
[Tig Strassburg] Get away from the kids a little while.
[laughter]
[Tig Strassburg] I like going out in the nighttime
and checking my traps.
Wolves they're a nocturnal animal,
darkness gives me another chance of
running into them on the trail.
Today, I'm going to bring Louise with me,
I like to call her Lucky Lou.
A lot of times when I'm having bum luck,
I take her with me and she'll change my luck right around.
Another cow moose.
[Tig Strassburg] NO DOOTS.
HAD SOME LUCK TONIGHT.
WELL, CONTINUE ON I GUESS.
[Louise Moses] The growing wolf problem around Allakaket
is pretty scary.
You know, we have kids walking to school
and it's a danger for them.
[Tig Strassburg] Wolf is super smart.
They're the apex predator out here in our woods.
Going after a wolf, it's,
it's not easy.
Trying to go after a animal that specializes in how to get
around without being detected.
It is dangerous, we don't know what to expect out here.
Let's go take a look.
[Tig Strassburg] THERE'S SOMETHING RIGHT THERE.
[Tig Strassburg] Oh, right there look.
Got a wolverine.
[Tig Strassburg] Still alive.
Get behind me, over here Louise.
[gunshot]
[Tig Strassburg] ENAA BAASEE' [IN CENTRAL DENAAKK'E LANGUAGE]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
[Tig Strassburg] This is good, if I can't catch teekkone, why not catch doyonh?
[Tig Strassburg] WOLF [IN CENTRAL DENAAKK'E LANGUAGE]
WOLVERINE [IN CENTRAL DENAAKK'E LANGUAGE]
[Louise Moses] I'm not supposed to see any of this so
I just gotta look away while he handles whatever he's doing.
It's a really powerful animal, we're not supposed to be around
when guys are working on the furs.
In our tradition, we're just respectful of the men
that do these types of things.
If I want him to have luck,
I know I'm not supposed to look or anything.
[Tig Strassburg] OK. MIGHT AS WELL GO GET THE MACHINE.
[Louise Moses] Steven...
[Louise Moses] I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WAS THINKING
FOLLOWING YOU INTO THE WOODS
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
[Tig Strassburg] LIFE'S FUNNY LIKE THAT SOMETIMES.
[Louise Moses] TOO MUCH TRUST IN YOU.
[♪ suspenseful music plays]
[Joel Jacko] Woah.
So, the sawmill looks like it's pretty much buried in slush and
I'm worried that it's frozen to the ice,
also getting this thing out of here
is going to be a huge pain, I think.
Man, this is a disaster.
Looks like all the slush kinda melted into water and
then refroze on top but underneath this
little bit of ice is actually just water.
I thought that the track was going to be frozen into
the ground, but it actually might not be.
Kick this log off of here it's actually just my test log.
The main plan is to basically just get this out of here and
get it moved over to where my stash of logs is.
'Cause obviously can't mill here anyways.
Sawmill its super heavy.
The power head is the heaviest part,
so I pretty much have to move the power head in one piece.
Kinda more worried about my sled then
I am the mill at this point.
[thuds]
Ugh!
Defiantly crushed the sled.
I'm gonna pull the little feet off,
make it a little light, make it easier to move.
[sighs]
All right.
I think I'll probably have to make two trips,
can't get any more on that trailer so,
I'd like to move this track in one piece,
but I don't think that's going to happen.
Gotta get it out of here first.
[grunts]
[groans]
[grunts]
Phew.
So, this is a good reminder of why I have to get those logs out
now and get the mill out because the ice is thawing out
like super quick.
And we barely have any ice to begin with.
Once the ice does start to go I mean it's gonna
be gone in a matter of a couple days.
So, I really gotta get everything done pretty soon.
All right, I got, I got the mill out of the ice.
I mean now all I gotta do is haul everything over, uh,
to the new location.
I'll run this down make one more trip I think with the tracks,
and I think that'll be it and I can set it up
start ripping boards.
[♪ upbeat music plays]
[Marcella Amodo-White] No luck on this big island,
hopefully we'll have some luck on the smaller one.
It took us a while last year to find them.
[Marvin Agnot] I'm just gonna park down here so
our skiff stays off the beach.
-You got the hose? -Yes.
[Marvin Agnot] Oh, cool like that.
Well, we'll walk right over to see this rock
right over on the point over here.
[Juliana Amodo-White] Yeah.
[Marvin Agnot] Yeah, we're pretty close to this one.
You want me to carry them?
[Jazmine Amodo-White] I got it.
-Hope we get one. -Yeah.
[Marcella Amodo-White] As long as rocks are showing
then we have.
[Marvin Agnot] We got hope!
Nothing.
Yeah, looks pretty quiet.
Well, we'll just walk around and find those other rocks.
Well, this is pretty big here,
there's more rocks over there we can check.
[Marcella Amodo-White] No, there's one right there!
[Marvin Agnot] Oh, cool I see it. Do you see it?
-I see the leg. -Oh, yeah.
[Marvin Agnot] I can see his legs right there.
We found one! Woo!
Marcella seen it, looked right down and the same rock
that I walked right by so I must need some new glasses.
Yeah.
I'm gonna throw that away so it has an easy way of climbing out.
There you go you wanna get it?
[Jazmine Amodo-White] I can do it.
[Marcella Amodo-White] You wanna stick the tip under
that rock part just don't touch it
though otherwise it's gonna sink.
[Marvin Agnot] Go ahead, you got it,
I'll look for another hole.
[sucks]
[♪ suspenseful music plays]
[Marcella Amodo-White] Lot of small ones now.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] They're Tinky sized.
[Marcella Amodo-White] It's a tiny one, enough
for a meal though.
[Marvin Agnot] Oh, yeah, that's enough for a meal.
Plenty big.
Go watch your mom, she'll show 'ya.
[Marvin Agnot] PRETTY SOON YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO BE
DOING THAT TOO.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Watching my brothers and my mom process
an octopus on the beach is basically how I learned.
If you watch it enough times, then you know what to do.
Awesome, nice and clean now.
[Marvin Agnot] There you go, good job, Mars.
Way to go. Well, good job kids,
I'm so happy, now you guys can have a good treat.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Yes!
[Marvin Agnot] Your fruits of your labor on a beautiful day.
Now, we'll beat the tide, as you can see the tide is coming in.
We got the foam on the beach.
[Marvin Agnot] WE'LL GO MAKE SURE WE CAN REACH OUR ANCHOR.
[Marvin Agnot] As you see, tide came in and I just put
a short anchor line.
-Sounds good. -All right.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Call this a successful day.
We can go ahead and head on home
and then be time for church.
[ice cracking]
[♪ suspenseful music plays]
[Joel Jacko] I got the last of the mill together.
That was not smooth.
I mean I had to get it stuck multiple times but
I'm glad I got everything here.
Get the mill set up, start ripping.
[grunts]
Yeah.
It's time for the pain.
I'm gonna try to stand this thing up now.
All the weights on this end, so you're just basically man hand,
like there's not another way to like lift this up really.
[grunts]
[grunting]
[sighs]
Huh, all right.
So now I got, all I gotta do is put the blade on.
Whoa!
I'm just gonna make sure everything's running so that,
I don't have to mess with it tomorrow or, you know,
if I need parts then I can grab them when I go home.
But it was also on its side for a long time and
that's not like great for motors so.
Looks good.
Yeah. I mean it's running.
It's moving.
I'll be back tomorrow, start ripping.
[Tig Strassburg] Oh, [bleep].
I caught a wolf somewhere.
See this, this wreckage right here is from the, from my trap.
See, I had my trap right here.
Okay, he's dragging it down the trail.
Might still have him.
Never ever want any animal that we hunt to suffer so
we got to go out there and find it quickly.
You wait right here, ma.
I gotta go cruise across the river.
Wait right there.
-Okay. -You'll be okay.
[sighs]
[♪ suspenseful music plays]
[Tig Strassburg] I lost it.
I thought that was the drag mark,
that's not it though.
Hey, right there!
See the eyes? They're right there!
[♪ suspenseful music plays]
[gunshot]
[Tig Strassburg] ENAA BAASEE' [IN CENTRAL DENAAKK'E LANGUAGE]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
[Tig Strassburg] That is not easy animal to catch.
Truly, truly blessed.
Truly blessed.
Hopefully, you know, I got these wolves off the river now.
A lot of times you get one of them and
they're gonna stay off the river after that.
[Tig Strassburg] THEY'RE NOT GONNA COME BACK
TO THE AREA AS MUCH ANYMORE.
[Tig Strassburg] Beautiful black wolf.
Look at his belly, full too.
[Tig Strassburg] THAT IS A MOOSE KILLER FOR SURE.
[Tig Strassburg] Perfect wolf.
[Tig Strassburg] ENAA BAASEE' [IN CENTRAL DENAAKK'E LANGUAGE].
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
[Tig Strassburg] I'll take good care of you.
I got nothing but love and respect for the wolf.
The way I'm gonna take care of it,
the way I'm gonna handle it,
it's all out of love and admiration for this animal.
My brother, he was a big wolf hunter.
You know, it took a lot to make that guy proud.
I don't think I ever heard him say, you know,
he was proud of me or anything,
but you know, I feel like he'd be smiling,
seeing that I'm finally actually having a little bit of luck.
If it wasn't for him with his hand on my shoulder right now.
I have a lot of people's hand on my shoulder right now,
that are not with us no more.
A lot of people that, you know, I love that aren't here no more,
and I like to think they're with me when I'm out in the woods.
I gotta hurry up, my hunny's waiting.
But this ain't nothing out of the normal for Louise.
[laughs]
[Joel Jacko] All right.
So, when I put these logs here, I mean there was like no snow,
it was, I mean they were literally on clear ice and so,
this is like all winters snow
basically on top of them right now.
[grunts]
All right, I got my, all my logs ready to go.
Ready to just kinda get rolled on to the mill.
It'll be good to get these ripped up and get them home.
And then I can keep building,
finish the house.
So, most of these logs I'm just making siding,
so you'll probably get like maybe ten boards out of a log.
Some of the off cuts we'll just cut them up
and use them for firewood.
So, not, nothing really goes to waste.
I kinda always forget how time-consuming milling is.
It's just all-day 'cause all you're doing is just
pushing this thing back and forth, back and forth.
Right now, a lot that's going through my mind is like,
what's a better way to finish my house
then mill all this lumber?
There's gotta be a better way to do this.
But there's not, I can't even get lumber out here if
I wanted to right now.
It is so expensive.
One log down.
Everything is much harder out here,
but the reward is much greater also I feel like.
Once you get this lumber on the walls and you get it sanded
and stained, it looks so good.
And I will have a one-of-a-kind house.
All this pain and misery that I'm going through,
at the end of the day you have story to tell,
and you've accomplished something.
No, you're not out here nine-to-five,
like nothing to show for it.
Ooh, it's getting cold out.
Man, I kinda lost the sunshine,
the snow rolled in.
If you don't like the weather in Alaska,
you just wait 10 minutes.
So, I got, I'm like halfway right now.
I got, uh, three more logs to go.
I want to get these logs done before
this snow starts piling up.
[snaps]
[bleep], was afraid of that.
[Joel Jacko] I gotta snap that blade.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I see it's snapped right in half.
It's, these blades are like pretty old,
so they don't last too long.
I'll switch another blade out, but I want to
get these logs done before the snow start piling up.
You gotta be careful when they snap 'cause they can,
I mean they're pretty flimsy and they just want to
kinda explode outwards 'cause it's spinning so fast.
Cut you pretty good and I'm in the middle of nowhere, so.
Luckily, you know, it didn't kinda come out towards me.
It just kinda stayed inside the guard, which is good.
Yeah, I think it fits.
All right.
So, I think with this lumber,
I can basically finish a couple rooms in the house
which means a lot.
I am excited just to get back into the building part.
So, this house, it means quite a bit to me because
I've been working on it for so long.
I had like zero money when I started building this house,
and zero skill.
I feel like it's molded me as a person kinda just 'cause
of the blood, sweat and tears in that thing.
Having a self-sustainable house,
it's a challenge and I do like a challenge.
I don't want an easy life.
I don't want a sheet rocked house.
I want a one-of-a-kind house.
I want a hard life.
Oh, it's nice, the sun came back out.
I'm gonna hook this trailer up and get outta here.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Jaz, go get ready to put the octopus in,
you gonna come and help.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Yeah!
[Marcella Amodo-White] So, the waters boiling,
good you want to take the cover off as soon as
I bring the octopus over.
Take it off.
And then we just let it boil.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] How long do you let it boil for?
[Marcella Amodo-White] Mm, I keep on coming and testing it
by poking it, just to see if the fork goes through.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Eep! I'm excited!
[laughs]
[Marcella Amodo-White] It almost feels like I should know
a whole lot more being Alaska Native than I really do,
but my mom was ashamed to be Alaska Native.
I'm not ashamed to be Alaska Native, I, you know,
I can sit there and say it proudly.
But there's pieces of that history missing.
There's not a lot of education there.
Um, to me honestly,
there is a confusion on what being Alaska Native,
or you know, Alutiiq is.
You know, I'm really happy for the teachers that we have now.
They really pull for wanting to instill the native culture into
our students here and the kids,
they sit quietly and listen.
So, I'm going to bring it over to the table and
we're gonna take it out.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] That's pretty.
[Marcella Amodo-White] I know.
I'm not 100% Alaska Native,
I am also Filipino, and I practice Russian Orthodox.
None of that is separate, it's just all a part of me.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] What changed the most since you were young?
[Marcella Amodo-White] There's a whole lot more
cultural diversity in the village.
Starting with my dad,
he brought the Filipino culture here.
Did you know that nobody ever ate rice here before Papa came?
Everybody ate potatoes only.
-Potatoes? -Potatoes.
[Marcella Amodo-White] And that's what Momma said,
they never had rice here.
And now rice is like the main dish for everybody's food.
Then Daddy came here, he's been here for 18 years now.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Did Daddy have to change some of
his ways when he came down here?
[Marcella Amodo-White] Oh yeah, it's like a culture shock for
him but at the same time, it was a good one.
This lifestyle was ready for him before he even knew it.
And not only is our culture gonna stay here but you know,
you see how he is so gung-ho to sit there and
like share it with everybody else?
[Jazmine Amodo-White] So, do you think the mixing of
other cultures is a good thing?
[Marcella Amodo-White] It's a very good thing.
It's taking our light here and then shining it elsewhere.
You want to check the time,
it's almost, should be almost time for church.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] It's 5:30.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Oh yeah, we definitely need
to get dressed and head out, head up to church.
[Jazmine Amodo-White] Okay.
-Man, heck of a night. -Geeze.
[Tig Strassburg] Got that one doyonh in a snare and
then we got this guy in a trap.
It's exactly what we need for potlatch.
When we lose a person in the community,
we have a memorial potlatch in order to honor that person.
I already told you Uncle Hank,
I got a doyonh for him, he was real happy.
You know, their daughter passed away,
so they're having, your mom's niece.
Auntie Shea, remember her?
Cousin Shea, yeah, they're having potlatch for her too, so.
Part of our potlatch is a cloth dance.
We take a lot of hanks of cloth and we tie them together
in a big circle in our community hall.
Ad then we tie these doyonh and teekkone's on there.
The men grab the doyonh-teekkone furs and
we shake them as we dance around and, and sing.
You know, they might be dead and gone but they still got spirit.
When we tie these on to the cloth and we shake them,
this wolf and that wolverine their spirit is
in that circle dancing with us when we shake them on the cloth.
That's why you shake them hard,
you shake them hard like they're running.
And then also, the loved ones that we lost are gonna
be dancing in that circle with us also.
So that's the significance of the cloth dance.
You know, that's something that our people have always done.
Thousands and thousands of years,
our people have always had potlatch for the loved ones.
And they've always had doyonh and teekkone tied to the cloth.
It's a powerful, powerful tradition that we carry on,
we're never gonna lose that one.
So someday it's gonna be upon you to go out here and
try and get this types of stuff for potlatch, you know.
Someday I'll teach you how to trap wolf.
[Tig Strassburg] THANK YOU VERY MUCH WOLF.
[IN CENTRAL DENAAKK'E LANGUAGE]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH WOLVERINE. [IN CENTRAL DENAAKK'E LANGUAGE]
[Joel Jacko] Tracker dog, what are you doing?
What are you doing?
Well, I managed to get the sawmill back into my bay.
And I got my boards all ripped and back home.
It was a good productive day.
Now I got, uh, you know, I got enough lumber to kind of finish
a couple things around the house which is good.
Maybe a dog house. Huh?
What do you think, we need a dog house?
At least you got a house, you got a whole house.
Now I'm gonna get these inside and then, uh,
basically I can just start my next project.
[Joel Jacko] THERE AREN'T MANY ELDERS REALLY LEFT OUT HERE,
SO THERE'S NOT A WHOLE LOT OF TECHNIQUE BEING PASSED DOWN.
[Joel Jacko] So now I'm out here just kinda
figuring it out on my own.
And feel like I'm just learning stuff all the time.
[Marcella Amodo-White] Through the prayers of our holy fathers,
oh Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
♪ Amen ♪♪
[Marcella Amodo-White] It's important for me
to teach our kids.
Taking them out on the beach, even before they walk.
The subsistence way of life is very normal for them.
Now and ever and unto ages of ages of, amen.
[Tig Strassburg] Once I'm done skinning this wolf,
I got to pay ultimate respect.
I need to put its carcass out someplace way out
in the woods where no one else is gonna go.
You know, nice open country.
This is the kind of country that he loved right here.
This wolf needs its last meal, I almost forgot,
you got to put fat in its mouth.
Don't want to send him off with a empty belly.
You know, I'm grateful that I have the knowledge
to go out here and do these types of stuff.
It's the types of stuff I seen my dad do growing up.
Type of stuff I seen my grandparents do growing up.
You know, it started way off in the woods
in a nomadic lifestyle.
Our people been here for a long time,
and they figured out a lot of stuff.
There's no place that's gonna bring me closer to the Creator
or whatever brought us upon this earth
than being out there in the woods.
Captioned by Cotter Media Group.